Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 27th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much, Mr. Khanna.

I will go to Mr. El-Khoury for five minutes.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for being with us for this important subject.

Minister, Canada is known as a peaceful country. As a matter of fact, Canada created the peacekeeping force under Lester B. Pearson. I believe it should be respected in all countries during international conflicts.

I have several cases in my riding that broke my heart. There are family members who are registered with our Canadian embassy in Egypt, but they cannot cross the border due to smugglers. They're being asked to pay $5,000 per person.

Can Canada intervene with both sides, Israel and Egypt, in order to put an end to those smugglers and facilitate the access of those people who are in need?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

MP El-Khoury, you hit on a very important point.

Canada does not control the situation on the ground. The exits from Rafah are a particular example of that. We do our utmost under the circumstances. I have never and will never advise anyone to pay bribes or pay these types of exorbitant amounts to flee a war. I think it's unfair and unjust, but I'm not going to judge someone who actually decides to do it as a result.

We can do things we have within our power. This visa program, while it has not been as successful as we would have liked it to be, we still have hope for it. We have to preserve that hope. This is one area where we can act. We're going to help people that exit Rafah through their own means. Once they pass the screening process in Cairo, do the biometrics and are issued a visa, we will offer them a suite of supports inside Canada. Once they reach Canada, it will include interim health benefits for a period of three months until such point as the provinces take over settlement services. These are all the things you would expect for people fleeing war.

I spoke to both the Israeli and Egyptian ambassadors as late as last week. We continue our advocacy to make sure that this program continues to have some level of results, and that won't end. That is also coupled with all the initiatives that ministers Joly and Hussen are deploying on the international stage. In one case, there is international aid to make sure that people get the food and supplies they need to stay safe and alive, and in the other case, to put an end to this war through a comprehensive ceasefire.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

According to your knowledge, do you know if in this particular case Canada has raised the smuggler problem through diplomatic means? Have Minister Joly or Minister Hussen discussed that at all with both Israel and Egypt?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I've raised it directly, for example, with the Egyptian ambassador in my discussions with him.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

As part of our government's support for extended families affected by the crisis in Gaza, our government has announced that they will have access to health care, which is good news. They will have access to health care coverage under the interim federal health program.

Can you explain the purpose of this program and how it will help those who come to Canada?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

What it does is bridge a very important gap between the time when people arrive here and when people have access to provincial health care. We have typically bridged that three-month period with interim health benefits, at which point the provinces take over. In some exceptional circumstances, Ukraine being one of them, they have been covered by provinces from the get-go, which is something we encourage, but to the extent that it doesn't happen, we step up and provide those benefits.

It's an important step coupled with the settlement services and supports that people would need. For instance, for anyone coming here needing that type of service, we would provide it for them for the period of their stay, which is three years.

Again, I'd stress how unique this program is. Many countries are looking to adopt similar style supports, and they've looked at our program to do it. This is something that, while it hasn't, again, had the success that we had anticipated, it is very important, even more so now that this cap has been increased from 1,000 to 5,000 people.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you very much, Mr. El-Khoury.

We will now go to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe for two and a half minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, since December 22, I've been dealing with a case of Gazan nationals who have an acquaintance in Ontario. I spoke with a Conservative MLA who represented the riding there, but nothing has changed. I even spoke to an Ontario Liberal MLA who is more pro-Palestinian than not, but nothing is moving. This morning, your office called me. Perhaps that has something to do with your presence here today.

I'm working on a case that you have been aware of since December 22. We are now in the month of May and have only just received the unique reference codes under the special measures program for extended family members in Gaza.

Why has it been taking so long? It's all very well to raise the ceiling, but things need to move much more quickly. People are being bombed right now.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

A distinction has to be made between people being safe and sound and their having received a code enabling them to move on to the next step. The priority is clearly to keep people safe and sound. The one does not necessarily have an impact on the other.

As for the details of a particular case, I think it would be disrespectful to speak about it publicly. I would encourage you to contact my office.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Absolutely. That's precisely why I'm not publicly talking about the details. But there has been a five-month delay. That's what my question is about. Why should it take five months to get a code? Is that the average amount of time it takes or were these people just unlucky?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Are you saying that it takes five months to get a code? Are they trapped in Gaza?

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

It took them five months to get a code. They're in Egypt.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

They're in Egypt.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Yes.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I'll have to look into that as well. Details are extremely important in cases like that. It's hard to generalize.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Okay.

Are you at least prioritizing people who are currently in Egypt? A lot of people managed to make their way into Egypt, and it is certainly very difficult to get out of Gaza at the moment.

Are those who are in Egypt a priority under the special measures program for extended family members in Gaza?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

We give priority to those who have completed the visa application process, whether they're in Egypt, Rafah or Gaza.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

All right.

Am I to understand—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

We will now go to Madam Kwan.

Madam Kwan, you have two and a half minutes.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Could the Minister tell us how many more applications will be processed as a result of the announcement today?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I gave you that number leading up until May 20. I would have to check how many individuals that translates into.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

By my calculation, based on your numbers, there's a difference of 583 codes. Based on the application numbers that were approved, by my calculations, it was 2,197. Maybe officials can confirm that at a later time so that we know how many more applications will be processed.

Could the minister explain if you need to have a code to be issued a TRV?